Lesley Mumford

[CWSmith]

If you Google her name, she comes up in a lot of news sources.

She is a transgender woman who won a very challenging bike race. The 2nd and 3rd place finishers refused to take the podium with her.

This is going to continue to be an issue that defines gender rights in this country.

I have to tell you that I agree with the 2nd and 3rd place finishers. It isn't fair that someone who has been testosterone doping for years can now use the extra muscle and bone density to win races against people who have not had that advantage.

Some folks want to cast this as an issue for the rights of the gender minority, but it's really about fairness.

[Jim Bow]

Re: Lesley Mumford

Amen

[TerryLL]

Re: Lesley Mumford

I'm with you on that one. A biologic male, who identifies as a female, and perhaps has work done, has no right to compete in women sports events.

There are some sporting events, where a person only has to say they identify as a female, to be allowed to compete against women.

[CWSmith]

Re: Lesley Mumford

^ There are some sports where it doesn't matter. My student who fences says it really doesn't matter, but bike races, swimming, track & field, soccer, etc. it matters a lot.

[CK 17]

Re: Lesley Mumford

Why can’t we handicap these events like we do sailboat races? Take gender completely out of it.

[skuthorp]

Re: Lesley Mumford

Handicap based on testosterone tests for all? I like it, and you may find there are less TG competitors anyhow.
This is all new but it's women who will have to take similar actions to get it fixed. Men won't touch for fear of being labelled.

[CWSmith]

Re: Lesley Mumford

Handicap based on testosterone tests for all? I like it, and you may find there are less TG competitors anyhow.
This is all new but it's women who will have to take similar actions to get it fixed. Men won't touch for fear of being labelled.

The testosterone that is responsible for the advantage is long since out of the body. It's the muscle and bone that remains.

[wizbang 13]

Re: Lesley Mumford

We should have to stand on the airport scales with our luggage to calculate our individual fare.
It's not fair!!!!

[Ted Hoppe]

Re: Lesley Mumford

Does winning matter in a sport that allows for transgenders to dominate and win? Obviously not to those who participate, successfully end in the top finishers and refuse to take the recognition podium.

How many decades now have we told our children winning doesn't matter. Only trying and being your best. maybe they should stop awarding top finishers and just give participation trophies and t-shirt for everyone.

If one can't deal with their competition and what the top finishers are willing to do - maybe it is not the fair sport the organizers promote it to be. No one is forcing them to compete in unfair competition.

[CWSmith]

Re: Lesley Mumford

If one can't deal with their competition and what the top finishers are willing to do - maybe it is not the fair sport the organizers promote it to be. No one is forcing them to compete in unfair competition.

Then we should allow international Olympic athletes to compete in the Special Olympics? We should allow able-body people to compete against wheelchair athletes? If that's what you think the world should be, then have it.

We have categories in sports because it is recognized that some people have a natural advantage or disadvantage and we try to level the playing field.

[Rich Jones]

Re: Lesley Mumford

That transgender fella/gal said that he had no idea why the 2nd and 3rd place finishers wouldn't want to share the podium with him/her. He was clearly lying. He knows damned well why they weren't there.
This is an affront to women athletes who have been overshadowed forever by their male counterparts.
They are finally coming into their own just to have a few males jump in and compete against them.

This past winter Mikeala Shifrin became the winningest skier of all time, male or female. This was a momentous time in sports history and a momentous boost to women in sports. Can you imagine if, next year, a male (posing as a female) skier is allowed to compete against her? Thankfully there are no signs that this will happen.

The organizers of these cycling events have to get some backbone and stop worrying about being politically correct.

[JimD]

Re: Lesley Mumford

Hasn't the World Athletics Council already taken steps to ban transgender athletes from WAC sponsored track events? Good for them.

President (of the WAC, Sebastian Coe) says decision based 'on overarching need to protect female category'

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/s...omen-1.6788581

[TerryLL]

Re: Lesley Mumford

The organizers of these cycling events have to get some backbone and stop worrying about being politically correct.

I have to ask, politically correct to what group? Certainly not politically correct to the majority of Americans.

The grass roots spontaneous uprising against Anheuser-Busch in response to Dylan Mulvaney should be a clear signal that a huge segment of Americans are not ready, may never be ready, to embrace the woke gender identity movement.

[Ted Hoppe]

Re: Lesley Mumford

Then we should allow international Olympic athletes to compete in the Special Olympics? We should allow able-body people to compete against wheelchair athletes? If that's what you think the world should be, then have it.

We have categories in sports because it is recognized that some people have a natural advantage or disadvantage and we try to level the playing field.

"We" does not exist. The regional, national and the international organizations exists to put on the games; the challenge and the spectacle on the stage not us since we are only spectators to these events. Our societies forget one does not need to win to be the best. One only has to be the best by their own measure and evidence by our witnessing it in its performance. Arguing about what was a fair and level field was never, ever really a consideration because we are all unique not the same like some kind of one design class as most want to believe. The idea there are categories that put gender identity and birth identity in the challenge is itself is highly bias and sexist since we are all equal. Adding exceptions to create an artificial predetermination of outcome is completely flawed as would any other enhancement to what is actually entertainment with meaningless conclusions in the long run.


It is time to reconsider what it is to be the best human rather than by sexual assigned birth, identity or orientation. If you want to create a true and level playing field the only way around this; create a separate biological mom only competition where only women who must have given birth to a child conceived through natural sexual relations without medical assistance can compete. Let's see how far that flies.

[Norman Bernstein]

Re: Lesley Mumford

I'm a strong supporter of transgender rights... but when it comes to athletics, I think the solution has already been mentioned. There should be a non-gender-specific competition, open to anyone, transgender or not, that is seperate from womens or mens sports competition. No amount of progressive thought and belief can contradict the physical reality that transgender women may have an unfair advantage over cisgendered women. I don't believe such a system would be discriminatory... it would merely be facing obvious physical facts.